Welcome to the Nonprofit Partnership E-News

In this Issue

	June, 2009
	Annual Reports – Your Time Has Come
	Top Ten Tips for Effective E-mail
	Engagement Strategies for Nonprofits
	And For An Educational Opportunity Focused on Business Partnerships...
	Online Giving is Growing – but Integrated Marketing is the Key
	Getting the Most from Your Summer Interns
	Summer Dates and Deadlines at The Nonprofit Partnership

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Robert Wooler,
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June, 2009

This edition of The Nonprofit Partnership e-news is sponsored by Malin, Bergquist & Co. 

Annual Reports – Your Time Has Come

In a land long ago and far away, nonprofits got used to the notion that annual reports took up a good deal of time and budget. Not necessarily the rule today. Here’s why. Annual reports are never written for everybody. They are written for the people who can do your organization the most good – usually donors, prospective donors, and people who can give you power. When they finish reading your annual report, you want them to take action: to give, renew an contract, open doors, or all of the above. Four messages stimulate this reaction:
• Here is a cause that will knock your socks off.
• This organization has a unique, powerful, effective way to meet that cause.
• Your support can / did make the difference.
• Thank you!

We know that donors want feedback on what you did with their last gift before they’ll give again. We know that donors want to hear your success stories. We know that they want to make a difference in this world, and they want to use your nonprofit as the means to make that difference. But the sad reality is that few donors will sit down to read a full-length annual report. (And few budgets these days will tolerate producing one.) If you send them a shorter report or provide the success stories they want to hear in a more engaging format online, they will pay more attention. Even the customary critical elements like the Directors’ letter, the financial transparency information, and donors lists, can all be included in a shorter format. And don’t forget the photos.....

Whether your organizational annual report is short-form or long-form, we encourage you to submit it in The Nonprofit Partnership’s Annual Report contest. Entries are due on August 28, 2009 with winners announced on Nonprofit Day, October 21. Full information and the entry form are available on our website.

Your go-to resource for information on producing high quality annual reports is www.nonprofitannualreports.net

Top Ten Tips for Effective E-mail

As the use of e-mail proliferates as the dominant communication channel for business, and, increasingly, for nonprofit appeals, Meyer Partners has put out the following top 10 list to help you leverage the power of e-mail and combine it with other channels for maximum results:

1. Rotate e-mail senders.
2. Put “you” or “your” in the subject line.
3. Showcase one great photo
4. Minimize dense text.
5. Change gears by occasionally sending an all-text e-mail.
6. Link to video by including a “frame” as the link.
7. Promote local opportunities for engagement.
8. Invite involvement with advocacy.
9. Always include a “forward to friend” feature.
10. Always include links to give online.

And one key strategy for securing responses from individual donors – matching gifts.

Any offer is made stronger with a matching gift challenge or other value multiplier. Show your donors how the value of their gift can be multiplied thanks to a generous gift from a donor or a group of donors. You can also leverage grant or government support by explaining how a donor’s gift multiplies in value thanks to additional revenue streams.

For more information, see www.meyerpartners.com.

Engagement Strategies for Nonprofits

Working together – in whatever form – is getting a lot of attention now in the nonprofit community as organizations look to conserve resources, team for efficiency, develop new models of community service, and pursue new funding opportunities. The Fieldstone Alliance has a detailed table of engagement strategies that amplify the general advice given below:

1. Communication is key. Good relationships require trust and building trust requires good communication.
2. Know where you fit in. Take the time to analyze and understand your organization’s unique position in the local marketplace.
3. Make whatever culture shift you need to make to be partner-friendly. This is the new world we live in today.
4. Use your most appropriate tools to keep dialogue going: social networking, etc.
5. Consider pooling resources with like organizations to undertake marketing together.
6. Know who your constituents are and how to mobilize them.
7. Use the media as a partner to engage the larger community.
8. Think of businesses as collaborative partners, not just donors.
9. Impact policy by including government reps in your coalitions.
10. Take full advantage of the partnerships educational institutions offer.

For more detail, please consult www.fieldstonealliance.org
 

And For An Educational Opportunity Focused on Business Partnerships...

Marketing Maxims That Foster Corporate Partnerships and Giving.  Please join us on Tuesday, July 7 from 9:00 to 11:30 am at the WQLN studios, 8425 Peach St., Erie, for an insightful look at engaging local business in partnerships that can move in a variety of directions.

Understanding corporate culture and priorities is an essential key to building a partnership with a company that leads to direct giving, sponsorship, co-marketing, or pro bono services. Hear directly from two successful local nonprofit leaders, Tom Pysz and Almi Clerkin, about how they approach the corporate relationship, and understand the proliferation of forms this relationship takes in 2009. Participants will come away with a more intimate understanding of what works, what does not, and why.

RSVP by reply, call (814) 454-8800, or e-mail tnp@thenonprofitpartnership.org
 

Online Giving is Growing – but Integrated Marketing is the Key

The 2008 donorCentrics Integrated Giving Benchmarking Analysis indicates that online giving is becoming more important and is linked to larger first time gifts, but repeat donations usually come as a result of having nurtured the donor through other, or a combination of channels. Because online donors are younger and have high long-term giving potential, they are very much coveted. The take-away from this analysis is that the online channel must be an integrated part of a larger direct marketing program that includes printed, electronic, and person-to-person contact.

To download the full report, visit www.blackbaud.com/donorCentricsinternet
 

Getting the Most from Your Summer Interns

Given all the turmoil in the nonprofit sector this year and the staffing cutbacks you may be experiencing, expecting and getting more from your summer interns may well be on your mind.. If so, here are some keys to success:

• Invest in training interns for the job you want them to do, and commit those tasks to writing in a job description just like you would do for any other staff position.
• Meet regularly with interns. Have regular check-in meetings and supervision, again like any other staff position.
• Set goals with benchmarks and support their progress toward those goals with regular feedback.
• Treat interns like employees, full-fledged team members from whom you expect a complete contribution.
• Offer good role models and mentors for your interns.
• Despite your best efforts, expect youthful missteps. Interns are young and they are learning.

For more information, see”Teaching the Class of 2009”, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, June 7, 2009. pp. 25-26.

Summer Dates and Deadlines at The Nonprofit Partnership

June 15 -  Capacity-Building Grant Pre-Applications Due
July 7 -  Workshop: Marketing Maxims that Foster Corporate Partnerships
July 17 -  Capacity Building Grant Applications Due
July 21 - Workshop: How to Effectively Research Grant Opportunities
August 4 -  Workshop: Effective Grant Writing
August 18 - Workshop: Understanding the Federal Economic Stimulus
August 28 - Bracken Award Applications Due
August 28 - Annual Report Award Applications Due
September 1 - Workshop: Grassroots Advocacy in Harrisburg and Washington DC